This ordinance shall be known and may be cited as the "Curefew Ordinance Of The Town Of Jay, Maine."

Section 102. Findings

There has been an increase in violent and property crimes by Minors, and an increase in activity among minors in the Town of Jay.

Persons under the age of 17 are particularly susceptible, because of their lack of maturity and experience, to participation in unlawful activites and gang-related activities, and to victimization by older perpetrators of crime.

Section 103. Purpose

The purpose of this Order is to provide for the protection of Minors from eachother, and from other persons, the protection of health, safety and welfare of the general public, and the reduction of crim, violence, and gang-related activity by minors in the Town of Jay. A curfew for those under the age of 17 with aid in the achievement of those goals, and will be in the interest of public health, safetly, and welfare.

Section 104. Authority

This Ordinance is enacted pursuant to Title 30-A M.R.S.A., Section 3001.

Section 105. Applicability

This Ordinance shall apply to Minors in the Town of Jay, whether or not residents of the Town of Jay, and shall also apply to the Parents and Guardians of minors in the Town of Jay, whether or not residensts of the Town of Jay.

Section 106. Serverability

If any provision or section of thisOrdinance, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is determined to be invalid or void by a court of competant jurisdiction., such determination shall not affect other provisions or applications of this ordinance that can be given effect in whole or in part without the invalid provision or application, and to this end each provision of this ordinance is declared to be serverable and independent. It is the intent of the Town of Jay that each and every part, clause, paragraph, section and subsection of this Ordinance be givin effect to the degree possible. In any case where a provision of this oridinance is found to be in conflict with a provision of any other ordinance or code of the Town of Jay , the provision which established or establishes the higher standard for the promotion and protection of health and welfare for the community shall prevail.

Section 107. Effective Date and Amendment

This Ordinance shall become effective on the date of adoption, and may be amended by a majority of a town meeting of the Town of Jay.

PART TWO

Definitions

Section 201. Definitions

Subject to additional definitions contained in the subsequent parts of this Ordinance and unless the context otherwise requires, in this ordinance the following terms have the following meanings (such definitions to be equally applicable to all parts of speech and both to the singular and plural forms of the terms defined):

Emergency: "Emergency" shall mean unforseen circumstances, or the resulting situation, calling for immediate action, This includes but is not limited to: fire, natural disaster, or vehicular accident, as well as any situation requiring action to avert serious injury or the loss of life.

Guardian: "Guardian" shall mean a person or a public or private agency who, pursuant to court orderm is the legal guardian of the Minor. This definition also includes a person to whom potential powers have been delegated under M.R.S.A. Title 18-A, Sections 5-104.

Minor: "Minor" shall mean any person who is seventeen years of age or younger.

Parent: "Parent" shall mean a person who is the natural parent, adoptive Parent, or Step-Parent of the Minor.

Public Place: "Public Place" shall mean a place located in the Town of Jay to which the public or a substantial group of the public, has access, including, but not limited to, streets, highways, sidewalks, parking lots, vacant lots, parks, and the common areas in and about apartments buildings, office buildings, schools, shops, and places of entertainment.

Remain: "Remain" shall mean to linger or stay as well as refuse to leave when requested to do so by a police officer, or the owner or other person in control of a public place. This term also encompasses activites which may be mobile, such as walking, driving, or riding about in a public place.

PART THREE

General Prohibitions

Section 301. Prohibition

No Minor shall remain in a public place during curfew hours.

No Parent of Guardian of a minor shall knowingly permit, or allow by exercising insufficient control, a Minor to remain in a public place during curfew hours.

Section 302. Exceptions

It is an exception to the prohibitions under Section 301 of this Ordinance if the Minor was:

Accompanied by the Minor's Parent or Guardian;

Involved in an emergency or on an errand neccessitated by an emergency;

Engaged in an employment activity, or on the way to or from an employment activity, without any detour or stop except as necessary to drop off or pickup a co-employee;

In a motor vehicle involved in interstate travel;

On the sidewalk abutting the Minor's home;

On an errand directed by a Parent or Guardian, without any detour or stop;

Attending a school, religious, or governmental activity, which is surpervised by adults, or travelling to or from a school, religious, or governmental activity without detour or stop;

Attending a recreational activity sponsored by the Town of Jay, a civic organization, or a similar entity, which is surpervised by adults, or travelling to or from such an activity with no detour or stop;

Exercising rights protected by the First Amendment of The United States Constitution, or

Married or otherwise emancipated.

PART FOUR

Enforcement

Section 401. Restriction on Enforecement

A police officer shall not take any action to enforce this Ordinance unless the officer reasonably believes that a violation has occurred and, based on any response as well as well as other circumstances, no exception provided in 302 is applicable.

Section 402. Enforcement Procedure

If a police officer or an owner or other person in charge of a public place reasonably believes that a person is in violation of this Ordinance:

The owner or other person may notify police of the alleged violation.

The police officer may ask the apparent offenders age;

The police officer may ask for proof of the apparent offenders age;

The police officer shall be justified in taking action to ascertain the apprent offenders age in the absence of identification, such as taking the apparent offender into custody while contacting his or her Parent or Guardian, or accompanying the apparent offender to his or her residence for the purpose of obtaining identification;

If the apparent offender is a Minor, or cannot produce identification proving otherwise immediately, the officer may ask the reason for the apparent offender being in a public place;.

The police officer may take the Minor into custody for the purpose of contacting the Minors Parent or Guardian to come and take control of the minor;

During this period, the officer may require the Minor to remain in the officers presence ofr a period of up to two hours, so long as the officer complies with all requirements of law, including, without limitation, M.R.S.A. Title 17-A, Sections 107;

If the apparent offender is a Minor, the police may summons the minor and the Minor's parents or guardian to the District Court for a violation of this Ordinance, in accordance with Rule 4 of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure.